Ada Friedman
b. Washington, D.C., USA, 1984Lives and works in Texas Hill Country & Brooklyn, NY, USA
Ada Friedman’s art is rooted in paint, routine, and ritual. Her paintings exist in different fields of action and poetry; of varying spaces of concreteness, collaboration, and interiority. Works are typically double-sided, each side a painting unto itself and part of a multifaceted whole. Moved by the artist’s holistic drive to make worlds, her approach to the medium transforms paper - her prima materia - and discreet collections of idiosyncratic materials into symphonic accord for adventurous, graceful paintings.
Education
2016 MFA, Painting, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY2006 BA, Studio Art and Art History, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
2005 Painting and Printmaking, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Art Basel Miami Beach, Kendra Jayne Patrick Miami, FL2022 Painting in Pisces, Kendra Jayne Patrick, Bern, Switzerland
2020 Everyday Drawings and Pyramids, Grifter, New York, NY
2016 Jane, Grace, and Emily, 17 Essex, New York, NY
2012 Amanda Friedman, Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York, NY
Select Group and Two-Person Exhibitions
2024 Ballads, Ada Friedman & Helen Adam, David Peter Francis, NY• Files, Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, curated by Otto Bonnen
• Painting Deconstructed, Ortega Y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Perennials: 10 Years of Essex Flowers, Essex Flowers, New York, NY
• Cecilia Caldiera, Ada Friedman, Brandon Morris, Yeh Art Gallery, St. John’s University, New York, NY
• The Living Room at Art Genève, Genève, Switzerland, curated by Balthazar Lovay
2022 A Rose Goes, UTK Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, TN
• Afterimage, Ernestine, Livingston Manor, New York, NY
• Jump All The Morning, Ladies’ Room, Los Angeles, CA
2021 NADA House, New Art Dealers Alliance, Governors Island, New York, NY
2020 The Essential Goods Show, Fisher Parrish Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (Online)
• Cloud Memories, White Columns Online. Curated by Adrianne Rubenstein
2019 Family Show, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
• The Burn Show, Safe Gallery, East Hampton, NY
• Bernadette Mayer’s Synesthesia, Brodsky Gallery, Kelly Writers House, University of Penn., Philadelphia, PA
• Splash Zone, 182 Ave. C, New York, NY
2018 Amanda Friedman / Peter LaBier, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
• Daddy's Books, Life Lessons, Far Rockaway, NY; Marlboro College, VT. Curated by Caitlin MacBride and Lauren Faigles
• In Congruence, Alyssa Davis Gallery, NY, NY
2017 Photo Booth, Shimizu Brand, NADA Miami, Miami, FL
• Group Show, Shimizu Brand, Long Island City, NY
• Power to the Peaceful, SITUATIONS, NY, NY
• Regina Rex, NADA New York, Skylight Clarkson North, NY, NY 2016 Twenty-three-some, Bard MFA Thesis Show, UBS-Bard Exhibition Center, Red Hook, New York
• Summer Anagram, NURTUREart, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Marco Antonini
2015 6.021 MaMA Cubicle (with Miniature Garden), MoMA Cubicle, NY, NY. Curated by Zanna Gilbert
• Being Essex Flowers, Adds Donna, Chicago, IL. Curated by Kendra Jayne Patrick
• Trust Fall, Spring Break Art Fair, NY, NY. Curated by Jennifer Sulliva
2014 Mental Furniture, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Petrella’s Imports
• Sisrahtac, Torrance Shipman, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Brie Ruais and Maria Stabio
• Former Models: An Exhibition, BRIC House Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Merkx & Gwynne
• Devil’s Dust, with Alissa Mckendrick, SOUTHFIRST, Brooklyn, NY
• The Last Brucennial, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, NY, NY
• U:L:O: Part II, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Blonde Art Books
2013 The Alfred Jensen Painting at Bellevue Hospital, with Laura Hunt, Jackie Klempay/Situations, Brooklyn, NY
• Summer Academy Show, Autocenter, Berlin, Germany
• Snail Salon, Regina Rex, Queens, NY. Curated by Adrianne Rubenstein
• The Rose Show, Cleopatra’s, Brooklyn, NY
• DIY PLINTH, do it (outside), Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY. Organized by Rachel Higgins
2012 Primary, Nudashank, Baltimore, MD. Curated by Jamillah James
Grants / Awards / Residencies
2020 A.I.R. SU-CASA, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY. Awarded by NYC Depart. for the Aging & Cultural Affairs• Professional Development Grant, Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport, CT
• Professional Development Grant, Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport, CT
2019 Clay Break, Resident Artist, The University of Arkansas, Ceramics Department, Fayetteville, AR
2018 The School of Making and Thinking, Performing and Playwriting Residency, Prattsville, NY
2016 Joseph Hartog Fund Travel Grant, Bard MFA, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
• Rema Hort Mann Foundation, New York Nominee, Emerging Artist Grant
• Frontispiece Hudson, Resident Artist, Coxsackie, NY
2014-16 Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College, MFA Fellowship and Scholarship
2013 Autocenter Summer Academy, Resident Artist, Berlin, Germany
2012 The Shandaken Project, Resident Artist, Shandaken, NY
Visiting Artist & Critic
2020 Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, - Visiting Artist, Painting Department• Brooklyn Arts Council, NY. Panelist, Remote Learning Webinar, Community Art Programs
2019 University of Arkansas, Pryor Center, Fayetteville, AR - Artist-in-Residence Artist Talk
• Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD - Visiting Critic, Interdisciplinary Sculpture Department
2017-18 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ - Visiting Critic, BFA Thesis Course
Select Collaborations & Performances
2020 February Ghosts, a part of An exhibition by Nick Mauss Bizarre Silks, Private Imaginings and Narrative Facts, etc. Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland. Worked with artist Nick Mauss and the Rosemary Mayer Estate to research, plot out, and construct this temporal installation.2019 Helen Rides V, All Saints Church, NY, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes (Produced by Vivien Theatre Video)
• Helen Rides IV, All Saints Church, NY, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
2018 Helen Rides III, SMT, Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
• Helen Rides II, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
• Helen Rides, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Wrote, directed, set, costumes
2017 Performance with Delia Gonzalez and Rich Porter, Situations Gallery/Situations Athens, Athens, Greece
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Impure Fiction, Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover, Germany. Set, production, performed
• A Pink Chair, The Wooster Group, NY, NY. Production, set (technical apprenticeship)
2016 Turn Again, performance in conjunction with Rosemary Mayer exhibition, SOUTHFIRST Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
• She Can Move Soft Things With Her Mind, Bard MFA Thesis Show, UBS-Bard Exhibition Center, Red Hook, NY
• Keychain Stream Dream, A play, New York Flowers Festival, Essex Flowers, NY, NY. Wrote, designed, directed
2015 I Lost Something in the Hills or A Painting of Blue Roses, U.S. Blues, Brooklyn, NY. Wrote, designed, directed
2014 Drawing Hilma Af Klint: An Event, The Shandaken Project, Shandaken, New York. Organized with Ariel Dill
• Kinesis Pieces (with Joanna Yagerman), Essex Flowers, NY, NY. Curated by Gabriela Salazar and Mary Choueiter
Select Press
2024 Ada Friedman by Alina Tenser, Painting a dancing mind, BOMB Magazine• Painting Time, Ada Friedman marches into mysterious territories, guided by the words of the late poet Helen Adam, Family Style
2021 Jennifer Sullivan, Interview: Amanda Friedman, It's A Process Podcast, Spring
2020 Shalayne Pulia, “They Love New York,” InStyle, August 5, 2020.
2018 Alec Coiro, “Amanda Friedman and Peter LaBier at Safe Gallery,” Ravelin, May
2015 Andrew Russeth, “The Road Less Traveled - A Few Reviews From Slightly Out of the Way Galleries,” Art News, Dec. 11, 2015.
2014 Jen Coster, “Jen Coster Visits the Los Angeles Art Book Fair and Culver City’s Blum & Poe,” Bmoreart. Feb. 10, 2014.
• Hrag Vartanian, “Remember When Milli Vanilli Were Artists?,” Hyperallergic. Jan. 31, 2014.
• Sonel Breslav, “Just Another Day At The Beach-Because Nothing Ends By Amanda Friedman,” Blonde Art Books. Jan. 6, 2014.
• Kendra Jayne Patrick, “Thought Forms: Amanda B. Friedman,” turbulence. Jan. 11, 2014.
2013 Andrew Russeth, “The Year in, an Beyond, the Galleries,” GalleristNY. Dec. 18, 2013.
• Michael Rutherford, “AMANDA FRIEDMAN: INTERVIEW,” Painter’s Bread. March 9, 2013.
• Russeth, Andrew, “2013 in 2033,” GalleristNY (blog). February 23, 2013.
• Kylie Gava, “January 2013: Issue 07,” FORGETGOOD, Jan. 2013. 2012 Cara Ober, "Bmoreart's Best Baltimore Exhibitions of 2012", Bmoreart. Dec. 29, 2012.
• Hrag Vartanian, “9 Artists to Watch from the 2012 Bushwick Open Studios,” Hyperallergic. June 12, 2012.